For the first time since 2006 Murray is not the British No. 1 at Wimbledon, and -- alongside the tournament's lower profile while the World Cup takes priority for many sports fans -- that could help the Scot go under the radar.

But Murray is keen to temper any hysteria about his return.

"I have to view it very much day by day, just as a process," Murray told reporters.

"I'd like to be playing better. Of course, you notice things that are maybe not quite where you would like them to be or where you remember them being a year ago."

Murray looks increasingly likely to play against Benoit Paire in the first round at the All England club. Matthew Stockman/Getty Images

He repeated the feat in 2016 with a straight sets win against Milos Raonic, but faces a difficult route through this time with rising star Denis Shapovalov and seasoned veteran Juan Martin Del Potro both possible opponents in the early rounds.

Despite being "pumped" to be back Murray admits he will only know exactly how good his condition is after playing a best-of-five-set match.

"How am I going to feel if I play for four hours in the first match? I can't answer that question honestly," Murray said.

"I need to be mindful of how I'm feeling on a day-to-day basis. Right now you can't say with 100 percent certainty when you only started competing 10 days ago how you're going to feel after every match and each day."